1959: The Year Everything Changed

While conventional accounts focus on the sixties as the era of pivotal change that swept the nation, Fred Kaplan argues that it was 1959 that ushered in the wave of tremendous cultural, political, and scientific shifts that would play out in the decades that followed. Pop culture exploded in upheaval with the rise of artists like Jasper Johns, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, and Miles Davis. Court rulings unshackled previously banned books. Political power broadened with the onset of Civil Rights laws and protests. The sexual and feminist revolutions took their first steps with the birth control pill. America entered the war in Vietnam, and a new style in superpower diplomacy took hold. The invention of the microchip and the Space Race put a new twist on the frontier myth.

• Vividly chronicles 1959 as a vital, overlooked year that set the world as we know it in motion, spearheading immense political, scientific, and cultural change
• Strong critical acclaim: Energetic and engaging (Washington Post); Immensely enjoyable . . . a first-rate book (New Yorker); Lively and filled with often funny anecdotes (Publishers Weekly)
• Draws fascinating parallels between the country in 1959 and today

Drawing fascinating parallels between the country in 1959 and today, Kaplan offers a smart, cogent, and deeply researched take on a vital, overlooked period in American history.

Author: Fred Kaplan
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 04/01/2010
Pages: 344
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.89lbs
Size: 8.46h x 6.32w x 0.92d
ISBN: 9780470602034

About the Author
Fred Kaplan is a columnist for Slate and a frequent contributor to the "New York Times," "New York" magazine, and other publications. A former reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner for the "Boston Globe," he is also the author of "Daydream Believers" and coauthor of "The Wizards of Armageddon." He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Brooke Gladstone.